Container



Patented Mar. 27, 1934 PATENT lf FICE CONTAINER Y Charlesy K. Dunlap,Hartsville, S. C., assigner to Sonoco Products Company, Hartsville, S.C., a corporation of South Carolina Application January 31, 1933, SerialANo. 654,513

2 Claims. (Cl. 217-89) The present invention relates to containers andparticularly to containers of the portable type adapted for use inthe'handling and transportation of fruits and vegetables, such asapples,

5 peaches, potatoes, and the like.

Many types of containers for the transportation of fruits and vegetableshave been heretofore perfected, and numerous Vtypes Vare now in dailyuse. These containers are 4generally formed as simple baskets which arefilled and emptied from the top, but the type of container whichincludes` a removable and replaceable bottom as well as a removable andreplaceable top is widely used for the storage and transportation offruits and vegetables of high grade. In the case or a container having aremovable bottom, it is possible to pack the container through thebottom with the top in place, thus permitting the' packer to arrangethat layer of fruit which later becomes uppermost, and hence isdisplayed when the top is removed, in a careful manner. The remainder ofthe fruit, after the initial layer is carefully arranged,l may be dumpedinto the container rapidly, and the closure, which is intended to formythe bottom of the container when the container is in display position,is then positioned.

It is an object of the invention to provide an improved container ofthis last mentioned type which is simpler than those of the same classheretofore suggested or used and less expensive to manufacture and whichmay be more easily sealed after the packing operation than those whichhave been most commonly used, thus ducing the cost of packing both byreason of the saving of labor and by the decreased original cost of thecontainer.

It is contemplated that the container shall be :fabricated so far aspossible of sti paper which is eminently suitable for the manufacture ofbaskets or containers provided that it is reinforced atthe necessarypoints in a suitable manner. A fruit basket having a body formed ofpaper and top and bottom members also formed of paper is neat andattractive in appearance, and the smooth surfaces of the paper may bereadily utilized as spaces for advertising or decorative matter. Thepresent invention contemplates a container, particularly a container inthe form ofy a frusto-conical basket, which is made of paper so far aspossible, inexpensive wooden reinforcing members being utilized wherenecessary to strengthen the paper and inexpensive bracing means beingemployed to securely tie saving time in the packing operation and retheseveral elements of the basket together. The invention contemplates anovel method of securing the container bottom in position after thepacking operation has been completed. Other features of the inventionwill be hereinafter pointed out.

' The invention may be embodied in containers which vary widely invshape. and in details of d esign and construction, as will be apparentto one skilled in the art. In t'ne accompanying drawing one form of theinvention is set forth by way of example, the container illustratedbeing in the form of the common and Well-known frustoconical fruit' orvegetable basket.

In the drawing:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the basket inverted and in position tobe packed with fruit or vegetables, the bottom closure being shown abovethe basket and ready to be placed in sealing position;

Figure 2 is a partial perspective view of the basket, showing the bottomsealing means in an intermediate position of adjustment;

Figure 3 is a side elevation of a portion of the container, showing thebottom sealing means in an intermediate stage during the sealingoperation and showing in three positions the tool which is used to eiectthe sealing operation;

Figure is a perspective View of the inverted container after the sealingoperation has been completed;

Figure 5 is a section on line 5 5 of Figure l; and

Figure 6 is a perspective View of the sealing tool.

While, as has been previously explained, the container may have variousforms, the most common form is the frustum of a cone, and the basketdisclosed by way of example is of that form. It comprises essentially abody l0 formed of a sheet of paper suiciently heavy and durable towithstand the strains incident to packing, handling, and shipment,together with a disc-like top closure of heavy paper, not illustrated,and a disclike bottom closure il of heavy paper. The paper employed maybe treated if desired so as to be moisture-proof and may be furthertreated, if thought necessary, to give it increased mechanical strength.Encircling the top and bottom margins of the body 10 are woodenreinforcing hoops l2 and 13 respectively, these hoops being secured tothe adjacent surfaces of the paper body in any suitable manner, as, forinstance, by small nails, wire cleats, or the like. Secured to thebottom reinforcing hoop 13 at spaced points are the ends of twooppositely disposed wire loops 14 and 15 respectively, the ends of theloops being located approximately at the quarter points of hoop 13 asshown in the drawing. Each end of each loop passes around hoop 13, ascan be most clearly seen in Figure 5 of the drawing, and is therebyanchored securely to the body of the basket.

Wire bracing members are provided for the purpose of tying thereinforcing hoops 12 and 13 together. These wire bracing members may bepositioned in various ways, but it is found convenient and satisfactoryto secure one end of each member to the portion of the adjacent bottomsccuring loop which has been passed around and anchored to ring 13 andto pass the mid-portion of the bracing member through portions of thewire handle elements indicated at 16, these wire handle elements beingrigidly secured to the top reinforcing ring or hoop 12. After thepacking operation has been completed and the basket inverted and liftedby means of handles 16, the bracing members, which are indicated at 17,transmit a portion of the lifting eifort from the handles to the bottomring 13, thus relieving the top ring 12 of part of the strain andgreatly decreasing the tendency of this top ring to tear loose from thepaper body 10. The bracing members further function during the sealingoperation, as will be hereinafter described.

The bottom sealing disc 11 is reinforced with thin wooden reinforcingslats 18 extending diametrically thereof and disposed at right angles toeach other. After the basket has been packed, the bottom seal 11 isplaced in position with the slats disposed as shown in Figure 2 i. e.,each Slat extends from one of the end loops of one of the sealing loops14 or 15 to the diametrically opposed end loop of the opposite sealingloop, the end loops of the sealing loops being disposed, as has beenpreviously pointed out, at the quarter points of the reinforcing hoop13. The two sealing loops are then bent over so as to lie upon the slatsrespectively, these loops slightly overlapping, as shown in Figure 2.The sealing tool, which comprises a simple rod 20 having stops 21 at itsends and a sleeve 22 slidably mounted thereon, is then applied, thesleeve 22 being passed ben tween the overlapping ends of the sealingloops as shown in Figure 2.

The next operation consists in rotating the tool about its lower end sothat the rod 20 is moved to the full line position indicated at a inFigure 3, and the overlapping portions of the sealing loops are given apartial twist about each other as shown. The rod 20 is then movedthrough the sleeve 22 to the dotted line position b (Figure 3) andthereafter swung in a clockwise direction through the position c andback to position a, thus further twisting together the overlappingmid-portions of the sealing loops. The operation may be stopped whenthese mid-portions are interlocked as shown in Figure e or, if desired,may be continued to impart further twists. Should the sealing loops befound relatively long, several twists may be taken to take up all of theslack and insure that the wires are under sufficient tension to hold thebottom 1l securely in place. As the sealing wires overlie thereinforcing slats 18, the operation of eifecting the seal does not causethe wires to cut into the paper bottom. The wires used to form not onlythe sealing loops 14 and 15 but also the reinforcing or bracing membersor loops 17 are preferably soft iron wires, such as the type of wirewhich is commonly called baling wire which, while possessing veryconsiderable tensile strength, is light in weight and may be bent ortwisted a number of times without danger of breakage.

The sealing operation may be very rapidly effected by packing hands. Thecontainer may be very cheaply fabricated, is neat and attractive inappearance, provides a large smooth surface upon which may be printedlabels or advertising matter, and is of extremely iight weight. As hasbeen also previously pointed out, the invention is not confined in itsapplications to fruit or vegetable baskets of the frusto-conical type asshown in the drawing but may be embodied in containers which vary widelyin shape and details of construction.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new and desiredto be secured by Letters Patent is:

1. In a container, a body comprising a paper sheet arranged as thefrustum of a cone, an annular reinforcing member encircling the body ateach end thereof, both said members being secured to the body, bracingwires connecting said members, and two diametrically opposed Wire loopsconnected to one of said members, adapted to be hooked together at theirmid-points, to secure a closure.

2. A container comprising an open-ended tubular body of paper, annularreinforcing members encircling and secured to said body at the endsthereof, a plurality or bracing wires connecting said members, a closurefor one end of said body, and securing wires anchored to one of saidmembers and extending across the closure to secure the same in position.

CHARLES K. DUNLAP.

